Watchcast Schedule for October 2025: The Scares That Speak to Us, Specifically

Greetings, Watchcasters! Apologies for the delay in posting this schedule, but we had some fun voting shenanigans to get through for our final pick of the Watchcast slate, and now that democracy has run its course, I can finally reveal the full schedule for October.

We bandied around the idea of doing a specific theme this year, but we had a lot of choices on our plate, and I think it was Brad who had the great idea to just pick and choose the movies we most want to watch during this spooky season. A horror potpourri, if you will. So we've each chosen one film that we were most eager to watch this October, and for the fourth pick, our Mission Control and Mysterious Benefactor patrons voted on one of six (and, eventually, two) movies that we each put up for election. Here's what we (and you!) picked.

Monday, October 6th: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

This one was my pick, and it's one I've been wanting to do for the Watchcast for quite a while. I even invented an entire alien horror category for it for this year just so we could get one last Nimoy project in during the calendar year. Turns out I didn't need to do all of that, and we'll have to get to Lifeforce and The Faculty some other time. But we do get to do this one, and I'm thrilled about it.

If you've never seen this particular spin on the Body Snatchers story, then you have not seen the best version of it. Set against the backdrop of post-counterculture San Francisco, Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams star as health department employees who become increasingly aware that the people around them seem to be changing in bizarre (and perhaps alien) ways. Director Philip Kaufman mines an incredible amount of dread out of simple shots of people staring in unnatural ways and garbage trucks full of unidentifiable material, and when they do start dialing up the special effects, they manage to conjure up some of the creepiest imagery of the entire decade of cinema.

It is in no way required viewing for this Watchcast, but if you like this movie, it's absolutely worth checking out the 1956 adaptation as well. As low budget horror thrillers of the era go, it's a cut above most, and has some pretty great central performances.

Where to Watch

Monday, October 13th: Final Destination (2000)

How long has Vinny been itching to check these movies out? I feel like he's mentioned it every single time we've talked about doing a horror month for this podcast. Not that I'm complaining! This is a fun series of movies, and while some of the later entries are duds, the first one I still think reigns supreme among nearly all the other teen horror stuff coming out around this time. For one thing, few of those movies ever got as elaborate as this one does when it comes to creativity in death scenarios. And unlike your Saws and whatnot, these movies don't really linger on torture or gore, so you're more free to appreciate the Rube Goldberg-ian methodology death likes to apply when it's pissed off about folks cheating their expected demise.

I rewatched this a few years ago, and I still think it holds up very well. Tony Todd's mortician is probably my favorite application of his horror chops outside of Candyman, and I cannot stress enough, the deaths are real, real good. Nothing quite as good as the intro to Final Destination 2, but that's a tough bar to clear for any movie, really.

Where to Watch

Monday, October 20th: Hereditary (2018)

OK, I know I said Invasion was my pick and I was super excited to do it, but honestly, this might be the one I'm most excited to dig back into, especially given that Brad hasn't seen it yet, and we get to work through all of this with him together.

If you've never had the pleasure of watching this one, the premise is pretty simple: Toni Collette slowly loses her mind for two hours. OK, yes, there is more going on here with her suburban mother character's troubled family past, including an estrangement from her own mother that seems to be coming back to haunt her, so to speak, and causing increasing amounts of tension with her own family. But saying any more than that would be spoiling the fun, so we'll let you dig in without further context. All I'll say otherwise is that I'm not sure Collette has ever been better than she is here, and having not seen this since it first came out, I'm extremely eager to see what I take away from it on second viewing.

Where to Watch

Monday, October 27th: When Evil Lurks (2023)

Speaking of oft-discussed movies, this is another one that's come up a bunch on Ramblecasts since Brad had the occasion to watch it I think...last year? He's been talking it up as one of the gnarliest, bleakest things he's ever seen, and I've had it on my to-watch list pretty much since it came out. So thank you, everyone out there in voting land, for making it our wild card pick this month!

The basic premise is this: two brothers driving through a remote Argentinian village happen upon a man who is on the verge of birthing a tremendous demonic evil into the world. They go to great lengths to try and prevent this, and things maybe do not go according to plan. That's all I know at this point, and I'm perfectly happy to get rocked by this thing without any further foreknowledge.

Where to Watch

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And that's the schedule! This is always my favorite Watchcast schedule to put together, and this month I think we've both got tremendous variety and genuinely high quality all around. Hope you enjoy the flicks, and that you have yourselves a pleasantly spooky October. We'll see ya at the movies!

--A